Colloquium on Researching and Evaluating Blended Learning


Wednesday Afternoon Pre-Conference Workshops 1:00PM - 5:00PM
Susan Lowes, Teachers College/Columbia University
Cathy Cavanaugh, University of Florida

Session Information



Session Description

This session is designed as an opportunity for those who plan to undertake or supervise evaluation or research on blended education to share perspectives, to work together to build a common language, and to articulate the issues surrounding research and evaluation in this rapidly growing field. The afternoon will open with a discussion of the broad purposes of, and models for, K-12 blended learning, followed by a series of small-group round tables in which we will discuss the issues, challenges, and needs faced by those attempting to implement blended education, the key research questions that need to be addressed, the research and evaluation methods that are appropriate for these questions, and the data and knowledge management systems that can support this research. Participants will take with them examples of research and evaluation approaches specific to blended education, as well as promising questions for advancing practice through comparisons within and across models.



Session Twitter Hashtag: #vss308p2




    Presentation Materials and Contributions


    AGENDA
    Overview and introductions of facilitators

    Introductions of participants by organization/context type
    Definitions and purposes of blended education:
    --Changing the time, place, and nature of teaching and learning possible in K-12 education

    Overview of blended education models as outlined in the 2010 and 2011 Innosight reports
    --A framework with attention to the alignment of models with programs' purposes and missions

    • Integrating online and onground, sometimes with a reduction in classroom time and with a level of flexibility in time, place, path, pace
    • Ideally in a redesign of the teaching and learning experience to leverage o interactions in various environments, o tools for engagement, o opportunities for personalization and reflection o practice and feedback
    • (Innosight, Watson/iNACOL, Sloan, Educause, Curt Bonk, Cavanaugh/Better)

    • Program-level blending combines online and onground courses (EPGY, FL, KY, MI, Nashville)
    o Online courses accessed in the school lab as part of a student’s schedule
    o Online courses accessed outside of school supplementing a student’s schedule
    • School-level blending integrates online and onground experiences in the same course (KIPP, Rocketship, Riverside, Thesys)
    o Activities experienced as a full class group in the same room o Activities experienced in small groups in the same room
    o Activities occurring in a classroom and a lab
    o Activities occurring in a school, online and offsite according to the teacher’s design
    o Activities occurring in a school and online according to individual student needs
    o Activities occurring primarily online with teacher/tutor support as needed by individual students
    o Activities occurring primarily online with onsite teacher/tutor support as needed by individual students
    o Activities occurring primarily online and offsite with teacher/tutor interaction onsite as needed by individual students


    --Table discussions and response to models and definitions: limits, gaps, aids to understanding possibilities...?

    Examples of blended education program effectiveness measures and findings showing where the field is at this time
    --What questions have been ASKED, what are the greatest gaps that remain?
    --What models are associated with different measures?
    --What research questions have been addressed, what are the greatest gaps that remain?
    --What models HAVE BEEN examined?
    --What measures and findings have participants used?

    [Tables move]
    What are the challenges of doing this research and evaluation?
    Notes from the session:


    Questions of importance for guiding practice that can be addressed by research and evaluation
    --What have we learned?
    --What questions and needs remain?
    --What is the balance between accountability and understanding learning by examining why, how and for whom blended approaches work?

    Open-ended discussion and wrap up
    --Recommendations for researchers, evaluators, iNACOL.
    --Q & A on issues of interest and other topics


    BLENDED LEARNING MODELS (Innosight, 2010)

    Model 1: Face-to-Face Driver
    The programs that fit in the face-to-face-driver category all retain face-to-face teachers to deliver most of their curricula. The physical teacher deploys online learning on a case-by-case basis to supplement or remediate, often in the back of the classroom or in a technology lab.

    Model 2: Rotation
    The common feature in the rotation model is that, within a given course, students rotate on a fixed schedule between learning online in a one-to-one, self-paced environment and sitting in a classroom with a traditional face-to-face teacher. It is the model most in between the traditional face-to-face classroom and online learning because it involves a split between the two and, in some cases, between remote and onsite. The face-to-face teacher usually oversees the online work.

    Model 3: Flex
    Programs with a flex model feature an online platform that delivers most of the curricula. Teachers provide on-site support on a flexible and adaptive as-needed basis through in-person tutoring sessions and small group sessions. Many dropout-recovery and credit-recovery blended programs fit into this model.

    Model 4: Online Lab
    The online-lab model characterizes programs that rely on an online platform to deliver the entire course but in a brick-and-mortar lab environment. Usually these programs provide online teachers. Paraprofessionals supervise, but offer little content expertise. Often students that participate in an online-lab program also take traditional courses and have typical block schedules.

    Model 5: Self-Blend
    The nearly ubiquitous version of blended learning among American high school students is the self-blend model, which encompasses any time students choose to take one or more courses online to supplement their traditional school’s catalog. The online learning is always remote, which distinguishes it from the online-lab model, but the traditional learning is in a brick-and-mortar school. All supplemental online schools that offer a la carte courses to individual students facilitate self-blending.

    Model 6: Online Driver
    The online-driver model involves an online platform and teacher that deliver all curricula. Students work remotely for the most part. Face-to-face check-ins are sometimes optional and other times required. Some of these programs offer brick-andmortar components as well, such as extracurricular activities



    Blended Education Bibliography
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    Bonk, C. J. (2009). In The world is open: How Web technology is revolutionizing education. San Francisco, Calif: Jossey-Bass.

    Bonk, C. & Graham, C. (2005). Handbook of blended learning: Global perspectives, local designs. San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer Publishing.

    Brown, D.G. (2001). Hybrid courses are best. Syllabus, online

    http://www.wfu.edu/~brown/Syllabus%20Articles/SylHybrid%20Courses.htm

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    Web Resources

    Blended Learning resource guides from New South Wales, http://www.cap.nsw.edu.au/blended_learning/blended_learning.html

    Hensley, G. (2005). Creating a hybrid college course: Instructional design notes and recommendations for beginners.

    TheSys Case Study, 2010, http://www.thesysintl.com/thesys2/case-studies-summer-2010.html